walk hunting

[Dan Edwards]

Is anybody on here walk hunting bear anymore? You know like the men did back in the day before telemetry collars and shock collars and big 4 wheel drive pick ups with riggin box attached. I am just interested in hearing about anybody doing it the "old way".

If you are, tell me what kind or type dog you are using.

[Jordan Run Walkers]

Of course, there are lots of hunters that still walk hunt. After 4 weeks of deer hunting in these same woods the bear ain't gonna be sitting along side the road waiting for a bear hunter to come along and run him/her. Yea, we ride what few back roads we have hoping to get lucky but it don't happen often. When daylight comes and we haven't hit anything rigging, we unload the hounds and start walking. Don't really see what the shock collars and telemetry has to do with whether someone walk hunts or not.

[frs123]

use a four wheeler and wagon to run the loggiing roads but that dont always work so ya we walk some, and as soon as the dogs are gone its a race to follow them. tracking system so i dont spend a week trying to find dogs only two days now dont have any reg dogs right now all grade plotts and walkers and two cross breeds but they get the job done.

[sherlock14]

That's the only way we hunt ,we have one road to the top of the mountain and then it's on foot . If we relied on bear crossing the road to find a track we might get one a season . For example this Dec season we ran and killed 6 bear and out of them six only two crossed roads but that was after the dogs struck and got the bear jumped . One of them bears was killed on the road by a watcher and the other one got by and treed half mile later. So in conclusion , were we hunt if we only rigged for bear our numbers would be terrible. Like the other guy said our deer season is the 2 weeks before bear season and I think the bear get road smart because of all the traffic and stay away from it as much as possible.

[DOITALL]

I started bear hunting in the late 70's,they didn't have tracking collars or rig dogs.It was a matter of parking at a trail head get a hand full of dogs and lead them all day sometimes. Seems like I always got the dogs that were never turned loose. Thats when this state only had an estimated 500 bear. Now its like 12000 statewide. When my buddy and I got our own dogs with collars we trained them so we could free cast 5 trained hounds and 1 pup. This worked great, loose the dogs and walk them down the trail.Now with so many bear we just drive and rig. IMO not near as fun.Or maybe I should say I don't like it at all. At least here in the east it seems to be all about quanity trees and kills not quality hunts.
So last year I started from scratch 0 dogs to build a small pack of dogs to freecast and enjoy walking the trails which I can do in any direction from my house,and eventually on horses. If I can get some tips from you western hunters on following dogs with horses.I have 2 good trail horses and lots of laurel bushes.

[BlacktailStalker]

I like to hike up above the highest slash (heli slashes are prime for bears, tons of those around here) and traverse side hill for many kms.
Most of our roads don't take you 1/5 of the distance you need to be to get close to the dogs.

[spruce mountain]

I still walk some to start track's,Not as much as I used to.I check bait's in the mourning and if that dose'nt work then I will walk a ridge.If there are beechnut's or acorn's, it usaully dose'nt take long to start a track.If gas prices are high it's cheaper than rideing around looking for a strike.

[Dan Edwards]

Don't really see what the shock collars and telemetry has to do with whether someone walk hunts or not.


I use shock collars and telemetry as much as anybody. I wasnt pickin at them, I was just stating a fact that people had to walk hunt back in the day without them modern deals. Pully your perty pink panties out your ass. Just messin with ya, dont go postal on me.

[Frontier]

Dan, seems like we're all caught up in the fast lane whether we like it or not. I still do some walk hunting, have too to get the job done. Do quite a lot off the rig and keep a few baits for bear. I hate running young dogs off the bait - makes them crazzzzy and harder to handle. I'll go out of my way to strike or find a track away from the bait. Nothing better in the early morning than to strike a bear that walked just after dark, listen to the old dogs cold trail and have a young dog pipe in and help work out the track - then get jumped.

I remember when we didn't have all these gadgets and such. I honestly think we were better hunters when we didn't have the gizmo's. I feel we paid more attention to the game habits - travel, feed, season etc. Knew where to go listen, a good idea where they went when they went out of hearing. Had a different kind of savvy and handled our dogs a little different we really had to hunt smart and pay more attention to the little things. There are a lot of fella's hunting that have never hunted without telemetry and shock collars and that's a good thing these days with theft, wolves', work, traffic and such. I just like that old confidence in your dogs and knowing how long there gunna stay and not have to have a foot race to get to the tree. A few times I've pissed off my hunt'n partners when they couldn't get a signal or just alot of bounce or dead battery. "Turn that thing off and use your head " - boy have I got some funny looks. Later one would say" how'd you know to come over here and find them?" Let's just say I learned what little I know the hard way .

I walk hunted a lot more when I lived in Cal'i, I moved down there with some pretty fair hounds in my little mind but I was still a little wet behind the ears. I asked a local fella "where's all the bear?" He says "ya see that mount'n over there ( with a BIG shit eating grin ) that big canyon is full of um - they call it Grindstone". And he was not shitting me! I didn't have a shirt or a pair of pants that didn't have my ass hang'n out or torn spot or a patch somewhere, hell I still have old scares from the Manzanita and Chamise brush 25 years later. My poor Old truck took a thrashing too (not to mention the vet bills). I moved back up north a few years later with a lot better bear dogs than I had to start. I paid dearly for my education - but wouldn’t trade it for anything. Wish we had some acorns in the country I hunt now I'd do a lot more walk hunting - man did them bear get FAT!

Hope I didn't offend anyone here, there are a lot of good hunters with all the Gizmo's that know how to use them a hell of a lot better than me. I won't put a hound on the ground without a tracking collar - but I do get pissed at times trying to get a good signal. I still shut the DAMN THING OFF and go back to basics. I think that's what Dan is getting at.

I think I'll do a few more walk through hunts this year. Thanks Dan - good post! You brought back some good old memories.
Frontier

Anyone hunting Grindstone anymore? My hats off to you, nothing comes out of there easy!

[spruce mountain]

Frontier, that's an awsome picture in your signature,you don't see many like that.Look's like you beat him to the tree.

[Frontier]

It's that "No Brain's Thing" in me, the Wife says I'm getting to old to be climbing those tree's anymore. I just luv watching them young dogs when the bear bails out - That's Living!
Frontier

[Dan Edwards]

Thanks frontier. Thats exactly what I was talkin bout. I use all the modern tech that I can but I do enjoy a day out without it also and on foot.

[Ankle Express]

Thats still how we do it here in the mountains of North Carolina. Find the feeding ground and hunt it. We usually put somebody and the strike dog on out the trail well ahead of the rest of us. May be in two or three different little bunches covering different directions. Head toward the feeding ground and hope to cut a track there if not before. Biggest difference to me from rigging and what really seems to help and make dogs is cutting an old feeding track and starting it slow and stringing them out and making them set on the track and go thru and jump it. In comparison it sounds more like the way alot of folks cat hunt out west. Cut a track and then you have to start it. Starting a cold one is an art all in itself. Puts a good handle on a dog. Dogs that are led and hunted off the lead will have a handle on them. I can lead all six of mine at any time. Put the lead dog out front alone and everybody else goes behind me. But I have to tell him its OK to be out front because he grew up behind me. An example scenario is that lead dog and hunter have struck a track. Well if I'm a half mile away then thats a half mile of no pulling and following me, listening not screaming and the turn out goes the same way. They wait their turn patiently and quietly. But they are handled this way from the get go. The pups before they are running will stay with me and get their lessons till the time is right if it happens for them that day. May just be led to the tree or bay up. The other biggie is they learn the land better than you when they grow up in a place and have been drug all over it. If they ain't coming out it isn't because they are lost. When they decide to come out they hit the closest trail and be waiting on you. My trash bending is fairly simple as well. They get corrected right there on the trail staanding in the track. Its just how we have to do it here but it sure helps when I go somewhere else or find that big track I want to start and lay in the floor! Biggest draw backs are the miles and time. Its not an easy day when you start the track a mile or more from the truck and the race covers 10 - 15 miles. Usually don't have short days. To catch two in a day like this is a big deal. Your pretty tough or one or both went awfully well. I still prefer it and dogs hunted that way but its just how we were taught. I know folks here that will still cut a track and walk it out of the bed before they cut loose on it. Thats the oldest way I know of and they do that to stay in close proximity of the dogs. It was mainly used before telemetry. They'll prefer a tight lipped dog when on the lead. They'll strike but keep it short and as long as they are moving it be mostly quiet. They'll bark if you tie'em up to check the track. Jump the track turn loose ole ace and pack him with the pack from the nearest trail or road. The idea is simple your only turning on hot jumped tracks and you'll only need one pretty decent hound and you can quit trailing at any point and have the pack in hand. To much like work for me, plus the dog can be there quicker w/out me I figure or know!